Learning From Marcello Gandini

40 years of visiting Italy, and I’m still overwhelmed by all it has to teach. In Torino to prepare for the upcoming Italianways Travel auto tour, brought me together with Marcello Gandini at the Torino Museo Nazionale del Automobile.  Italian auto manufacturers traditionally commissioned auto designers to pen their vehicles, similar to hiring an architect. Gandini is a giant recognized to have designed some of the most revered cars in existence during his time with Gruppo Bertone. The Lamborghini Miura and Countach, the Lancia Stratos, the Alfa Romeo Carabo and Montreal are all on his long list. Torino was once a center full of expert small makers of mechanical wonders, the car companies would call in for collaborations to assemble automobile landmarks. Wheels, chassis, seats, electronics, body forms, wheels, engines all had a resident expert in the golden years of Torino automotive dominance. The Museo Nazionale dell’Automobile tries to recreate the era with a great archive and their recent Gandini exhibition. But it came alive being with Gandini himself now in his 80’s, holding court with young designers in the museum courtyard. All of us straining to understand every word of a revered master. Italy never disappoints.